Delaware IP Law Blog

Chief Judge Sleet construed the following terms relating to several “camera-on-a-chip” patents in a recent Order in Sirona Dental Systems, Inc., et al. v. Danaher Corp., et al., C.A. No. 10-288 (GMS) (D. Del. Jan. 26, 2012):

“readout circuit”

“a photoreceptor”

“sensing node”

“signal controlling device”

“timing circuit”

“correlated double sampling”

“single chip camera device”

“control portion”

“noise reduction circuit”

“fixed pattern noise reduction circuits”

“a follower transistor, receiving information from said photoreceptor indicative of said light”

“a select transistor, selecting said each pixel cell for readout”

“associated device, associate[d] with processing said light from said photoreceptors”

“formed in substrate adjacent said plurality of pixel[] cells”

“image processing device”

The Court agreed with the defendant’s contention that “associated device, associate[d] with processing said light from said photoreceptors” was a means-plus-function term, despite the absence of the words “means for,” explaining that “here, the term ‘associated’ which modifies ‘device,’ is not defined in the specification and there is no suggestion that it has a generally understood meaning in the art. Therefore, the court finds that ‘associated device’ does not connote sufficient structure to a person of ordinary skill in the art ot avoid § 112 treatment.” Id. at 7-8 n.30. The Court rejected the defendant’s contention that “image processing device” also was a means-plus-function term, explaining “[a]lthough this term uses the word ‘device,’ the additional words ‘image processing’ add sufficient structure to overcome the presumption that § 112 applies. The claim makes clear that the image processing device is a particular type of device that connotes sufficient structure to a person of ordinary skill in the art.” Id. at 8 n.31.

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Judge Stark recently construed the following terms relating to patented technology that “provide[s] a more personalized experience for internet users based on an individual user’s interests” by “filter[ing] information available on the internet to target more relevant internet search results, advertisements, news, and other information . . . .” Personalized User Model LLP v. Google Inc., Civ. No. 09-525-LPS (D. Del. Jan. 25, 2012).

“user” or “user u”

“user-specific data files”

“monitored user interactions with the data”

“parameters”

“estimating parameters of a learning machine”

“learning machine”

“User Model specific to the user”

“user-specific learning machine”

“document”

“estimating”

“probability”

“unseen document”

“estimating a probability P(u/d) that an unseen document d is of interest to the user u”

“estimating a posterior probability P(u/d,q) that a document d is of interest to the user u given a query q submitted by the user”

“present” and “presenting”

“user interest information derived from the User Model”

“documents of interest to the user”

“documents not of interest to the user”

In construing the final two terms, the Court rejected the defendant’s argument that “of interest” and “not of interest” were indefinite, explaining that to the extent those terms are subjective, they describe a user’s subjective reaction that can be determined based on objective criteria described in the specification. Id. at 44-45.

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In Ladatech, LLC v. Illumina, Inc., C.A. No. 09-627-SLR (D. Del. Jan. 24, 2012), Judge Robinson construed the following terms of U.S. Patent No. 6,107,023 which is directed toward DNA sequencing technology:

"A method of amplifying a mixture of different sequence duplex DNA
fragments, comprising:"

"linker"

"double-stranded linker"

"Both strands of the fragments, at both fragment ends"

"Single fragment strand"

"Primer"

"A primer"

"Whose sequence is complementary to a linker region on each fragment
strand"

"Linker region"

"Each fragment strand"

"Repeating said denaturing, hybridizing, and converting steps until a
desired degree of amplification is achieved"

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In Allure Home Creation Co., Inc. v. Maytex Mills, Inc., C.A. No. 10-712-GMS, Judge Sleet recently construed the following terms of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,698,061 and 7,003,848 which claim a a shower curtain fastening device:

"a sheet material having at least one aperture"
"a second component having first and second ends"
"the first end comprises a sleeve and a recess for matingly engaging the
extending member with a bulbous head"
"a second end comprising means for engaging the aperture of the sheet
material"
"the second component is connected to and freely rotatable about the
first component"
"a first component having first and second ends, wherein ... the second end comprises an extending member with a bulbous head"
"a first component having a first end, a second end and a hook"
"the second end comprises an extending member with an enlarged end comprising a bulbous head"

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Last week, Chief Judge Sleet issued a memorandum opinion in LG Electronics U.S.A., Inc. v. Whirlpool Corp., C.A. No. 10-311-GMS (D. Del. Sept. 12, 2011), granting a motion for leave to amend a patent complaint by LG. LG initially brought the ligitation as a declaratory judgment action on one patent (relating to refrigeration technology); Whirlpool counterclaimed on three additional patents. With its proposed amendment, LG sought to add infringement claims for three of its own patents, plus declaratory judgment actions for the additional patents counterclaimed by Whirlpool. Whirlpool opposed the amendment, alleging that the new infringement claims would "unnecessarily complicate the litigation, thereby prejudicing Whirlpool."

The Court granted leave to amend (with little comment), stating that the technology is related, and that a denial of leave to amend "would result in the filing of another lawsuit and would not promote the interests of judicial efficiency." Id. at 3-4.

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In an ANDA patent infringement action involving generic versions of Travatan® and Travatan Z®, Judge Davis recently issued a claim construction decision construing disputed claim terms of U.S. Patent Nos. 5,631,281; 6,011,062; 6,503,497; and 6,849,253. Alcon Research Ltd. v. Barr Laboratories Inc., C.A. No. 09-318-LDD (D. Del. Sept. 6, 2011). The following terms were construed:

“borate-polyol complex”
“ophthalmically acceptable antimicrobial agent”
“to enhance the antimicrobial activity”
“aqueous ophthalmic composition”
“prostaglandin”
“enhance / enhancing the chemical stability”
“therapeutically-effective amount of prostaglandin”
“aqueous composition”

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In a recent ANDA case involving valganciclovir hydrochloride 450 mg tablets, Judge Sleet construed the term "compound 2-(2-amino-l ,6-dihydro-6-oxo-purin-9-yl)methoxy-3-hydroxy-lpropanyl-L-valinate hydrochloride in crystalline form" to mean "valganciclovir hydrochloride in a physical form having molecules arranged in a regularly repeating three dimensional pattern."

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In Xerox Corp. v. Google Inc., C.A. No. 10-136-LPS (D. Del. Aug. 1, 2011), Judge Stark construed five disputed claim terms and two disputed order-of-steps requirements. The construed claim terms were:

“Selected document content”
“Classification label”
“Categorizing the selected document content using the organized classification document content for assigning selected document content a classification label”
“Query”
“To restrict a search at the information retrieval system for information concerning the set of entities to the category of information in the information retrieval system identified by the assigned classification label”

Also, Judge Stark denied the defendants’ request to compel documents withheld by the plaintiff as privileged. The plaintiff had exchanged documents with a third-party patent licensing company and later withheld these documents, asserting a common interest privilege. Id. at 12-13. While the defendants argued that the plaintiff’s relationship with the third-party patent licensing company was “purely commercial, and, therefore, outside the scope of the common interest privilege[,]” Judge Stark noted that the third-party patent licensing company’s compensation from the plaintiff was based on a contingency fee. Id. This supported a finding that the plaintiff’s relationship was “an allied, uniform, agency relationship . . . sufficiently imbued with common legal interests in that it plainly relate[d] to litigation[,]” id. at 13., leading Judge Stark to deny the defendants’ request to compel the documents.

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In Stored Value Solutions, Inc. v. Card Activation Technologies, Inc., C.A. No. 09-495-KAJ (D. Del. Jul. 1, 2011), Third Circuit Judge Kent A. Jordan, sitting by designation, issued a memorandum opinion granting the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment of invalidity due to anticipation and obviousness. Id. at 2. Judge Jordan also granted the plaintiff’s motion for partial summary judgment of invalidity of certain patent claims due to lack of written description, and denied the defendant’s motion for summary judgment of validity and its motion to exclude the testimony of the plaintiff's expert. Id.

The patent at issue disclosed a method for processing electronic transactions using a “Counter-Top Terminal System”—that is, transactions involving “an ATM card, prepaid debit card, or phone card.” Id. at 3. A key term in the patent was “purchase transaction[,]” which the defendant argued should include only transactions “in which goods or services are acquired through the payment of money.” Id. at 18. Judge Jordan disagreed, noting that the plain language of the claims showed that a “purchase transaction” occurred “when the value of a debit card is modified, including when it is increased.” Id. at 19 (emphasis added).

Thus, Judge Jordan construed “purchase transaction” broadly as “a transaction with the intended effect of decreasing the purchasing value of, increasing the purchasing value of, or activating a debit styled card.” Id. at 15. While noting that this construction was "somewhat different than the ordinary meaning of 'purchase,'" Judge Jordan found this construction to be "the most reasonable one that would preserve the scope of the claims in the '859 patent and ensure that each preferred embodiment described in the patent is covered by a claim of the patent." Id. at 25.

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In In re Armodafinil Patent Litigation, C.A. No. 10-md-2200-GMS (D. Del. July 25, 2011), Judge Sleet recently construed the following six claim terms:

- "[a] laevorotatory enantiomer of modafinil in a polymorphic form that produces a powder X-ray diffraction spectrum comprising"
- "intensity peaks at the interplanar spacings"
- "reflections at"
- "[a] Form I polymorph of (-)- modafinil"
- "[a] pharmaceutical composition comprising"
- "[a] pharmaceutical composition consisting essentially of"

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